The rest of our lives
by Sonia Ravenclaw
Summary: "And yet, she can't quite figure out why she's been staring at the kitchen's wall for over an hour, feeling a little dizzy. Well, that's not entirely true. She's been thinking about Scott nonstop since last week's events." Post AMATW.


Her mom is back. Whoa, it sounds surreal, but she is. Janet Van Dyne is back and her family is complete again. And yet, she can't quite figure out why she's been staring at the kitchen's wall for over an hour, feeling a little dizzy. Well, that's not entirely true. She's been thinking about Scott nonstop since last week's events. Hope was so trapped in her own thoughts that she did not notice her mom taking a seat right in front of her.

"Honey, are you okay?" Janet was sitting across the table with a cup of coffee in her hands "you've been so absent minded lately"

Hope snapped out of her bubble and looked at her mom, nodding. "Yeah" she said a little bit distracted "yeah I'm fine mom, don't worry"

Janet wasn't buying any of it. She might have spent 30 years trapped in the Quantum Realm, but she still could read her daughter like an open book.

"It's Scott, right honey? He's what's been on your mind lately" she said, looking right into Hope's eyes.

"Scott, wha-" Hope chuckled and looked away from her mom "No, Scott's just… he's just my par-" she was cut by her mother.

"Your partner? Oh honey, I've seen how you look at him, and how your face lights up whenever he's around. He's not just your partner, isn't he?"

Hope was a little caught up by this, blushing a little and looking down at her feet. "The truth? I don't really know, mom" she looked kind of sad when she looked up "I hated him at first, you know. I hated that dad preferred some stranger over her own daughter to wear the suit. It enraged me that after all, he did not trust me enough to let me take over. And Scott… he was just too much for me to handle." Hope looked at Janet, who nodded knowingly. "But then he started to be his charming self. He's immature and impulsive and he never knows when to be serious and he always makes stupid comments, and I… I couldn't resist any longer, so I gave in. He grew on me. We didn't really label it, but we grew closer, until one day I found myself kissing him and, other stuffing with him." She felt a little embarrassed; all in all this was her mom she was talking to. "I actually found myself so close to loving him" Hope blushed again and stopped, feeling a little overwhelmed because she hadn't actually said this out loud to anyone.

"Then what happened?" Janet asked. She's missed a lot around here.

"Then Germany happened" Hope took a breath "He went on this mission that broke a ton of accords without saying a word, not to dad, and not to me. He got caught and Dad and I had to run away. I was so angry, mom, I felt betrayed and I was actually heartbroken. And that was the last time I saw him before he was put on house arrest" A small tear slid down Hope's face and Janet brushed it away.

"And then this whole mess, two years later. We needed Scott's suit and I had to break him out of his house. I spent two years thinking that the only thing that I would feel when I saw him again would be anger. And it was like that in the beginning" Hank appeared, and Janet looked at him, silently asking him to stay outside, so he just leant on the threshold. "But then, he started to be himself, and my anger melted and I couldn't help but have this feeling inside me, something that drawn me to him like a magnet. And eventually all started to come back to me, all the feelings. I tried to fight it; I tried as hard as I could. But then he went all superhero and almost died on that deck and I couldn't hold it anymore so I kissed him" Hope let a small smile scape and Janet looked up at Hank, who was looking at Hope with a knowing grin.

Janet just waited for Hope to keep going. Hope was overwhelmed by her own thoughts and feelings.

"I… kissed him, yeah, because I was so scared I was going to lose him and the moment our lips touched, it just felt right, and I knew that's where I wanted to be." Hope's eyes locked with her mom's and Janet could see it so clear, her daughter was in love

"And what's bothering you so much that you're not telling him all of this?" Hope lowered her gaze, taking a closer look to her kitchen floor.

"I don't know mom, I just… I just have this sick feeling that he'll leave me again and…" Hope swallowed, closing her eyes, not being able to verbalise her fears.

Hank appeared from behind and rested a hand in Hope's shoulder. She didn't look up at him, but leaned into him instead, looking for some comfort. She then opened her eyes and sighted.

"And that I won't be able to take it" Hope rested her face in both her palms for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"I just don`t want him to wake up one day and feel that I am not what he wants and that he needs to leave. I have been told many times, that I don't know how to love. That I am cold-hearted and that I'd never find love because no one would ever love someone like me. An Ice queen, as they used to call me. I used to dismiss those comments, but now I'm not sure if I'm really capable of loving someone without hurting them."

Hope's eyes filled with tears.

"The truth is that I love him, mom" she chuckled "I love Scott with all my heart and I don't know what to do about it."

"And have you tried telling him this?" she stayed silent "Hope, honey, love is hard, it is complicated and doesn't always work the way we would like to but we dive in anyways, because it's worth it. It can hurt sometimes, but... It wouldn't be love if it didn't. Pain is part of the pack, the more you love someone, the more vulnerable you are to being hurt by them; but the good outweighs the bad." Janet smiled at her, with a loving look on her face, when Hank spoke for the first time.

"You have to trust him Hope. I know we had our disagreements and I didn't like him very much at the beginning, but he's a good guy." He approached Janet and put an arm around her, looking down at her. "You know Hope, when you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

Hope then looked at her parents. She realised that was what love was all about. Overcoming difficulties and problems together, because no matter what, what they felt for one another tied them together. That's what gave them the strength to keep going.

"Go and tell that man of yours how you feel. Let yourself be happy" Janet kissed her forehead and both her and Hank left the kitchen. Hope then was left alone with her thoughts.

Hank and Janet were walking up the stairs when they heard the door shutting close and the sound of an engine starting.

"Come on Hope, relax" Hope was repeating this to herself while she drove to Scott's. She was grabbing the wheel so hard that her knuckles were turning white. Even thought it was barely a ten minute ride it felt like an eternity.

"Whoa, geez, okay. It's now or never, Hope" She was facing his door, deciding whether or not to ring the doorbell. After a solid five minutes of going back and forth, she chickened out. "I can't do this" and she turned around and started to walk out of his front yard when she heard the door cracking open.

"Hope?" Scott asked from behind "what are you doing here?"

She froze.

_Oh my god Hope what were you thinking, this was such a bad idea._

She turned to face him and she then felt her knees go weaker.

"Scott! Hey, uhh, I was just-" it was like Hope's brain stopped working. "I was just passing by the neighbourhood"

"And you casually appeared in my front yard?" Scott inquired, a small smile showing in the side of his mouth.

"Well, I..." Hope breathed in and was ready to try and say something, but before she could articulate a word, Scott took her hand and guided her inside.

"Come on, it's cold outside" he said, gently pulling her inside the house. Hope didn't oppose to it, feeling a shiver just by the feeling of his hand in hers.

He then closed the door, and leant into the kitchen counter.

"So, hi..." he started, looking Hope, who was standing right before him.

"Hi" she said, smiling a little bit, feeling the nerves slowly fade away. "You know I wasn't just passing by… It's, um… I wanted to tell you something, but I haven't quite figured out how to say it"

Scott had a serious expression, but he was sure as hell that you could hear the sound of his heart pounding against his chest if you paid enough attention.

"So I guess I'll just say it. Geez, okay" Hope was walking back and forth, and after taking a breath, she looked at him. "You and I are not the kind of people who say 'I love you'. Well, at least I'm not anymore, I know better than that. It's a lie, you don't just meet your perfect match and then everything is beautiful and perfect and- that's not how life works, and if anyone understands that it is you and me"

"Wha-"Scott was a little lost

"Ok, stick with me" Hope came closer to him "I tend to push people away, I spent the past 30 years building this wall around my heart to protect me and it was okay- I was okay. Until you came in the picture, and started to tear that wall apart brick by brick. And I let you, I tried so hard to avoid it, but I liked you, Scott, so much. And I eventually started to love you."

Scott smiled but before he could say anything she continued.

"But then Germany happened, and you left without hesitation, without even thinking about me, about what would mean for us that you left. And it tore me apart Scott I'm not going to lie. And all that cold came back within me." Hope's eyes were filled with tears on the verge of falling.

Scott was looking at her, sadness and guilt in his eyes. God, he messed up big time.

"And then you came back. And we started to work together again and I just couldn't help but feel warm again." She took his hand in hers, interlacing their fingers together. "Scott, I can't go through that again. I need to know that you'll be here, I need to know that you won't leave me again." A silent tear fell down her cheek, and Scott gently brushed it away.

"Hope, I know I messed up, and I know I hurt you. Believe me when I say it haunted me every day for the past two years. I can't change what happened, but I can assure you I´ll be with you every step of the way if you want me to. We are partners, aren't we?"

She gulped and tried to avoid his gaze before making a hesitant sound. Scott's eyes were the most delicate shade of green mixed with a flecked crown of amber. Hope so desperately wanted to stare longer as his face came closer, but her eyes had already fallen shut. In the several breaths standing between them, when the tip of his nose just barely grazed hers, and they were so close, it was as if the two of them still considered that maybe it wasn't the best idea. Scott was afraid of disappointing her. Hope was afraid of losing him. Both of them standing between loving and losing the best thing they had.

But then she pushed herself up on her toes and he met her halfway. Their lips touched, so gentle, barely moving, like if they were checking if it was okay for them to touch. But after a second, they crushed harder against each other, kissing fiercely, trying to express with that kiss everything they couldn't say out loud. He brought her closer and her fingers graced at the back of his neck, entwining with his hair. Scott kissed her neck, sending goosebumps down her spine.

"I hope you meant the 'dating' type of partner" Hope said against his neck.

"Oh, no, this is just sparring here. You know, two years alone is a long time." Hope put a fake offended face, and Scott just laughed "You know I think I might have missed why you were here in the first place. Mind showing me again?

Of course he would ask for another kiss.

She leaned and gave him a soft peck on the lips. He stepped closer and sighted. There was sincerity in how pure the kiss was that made Scott want to cry.

They stood there for a few seconds, looking into each other's eyes, hands entwined.

"I love you, Scott" she finally said. It felt right, to just say it after all this time. She smiled.

He loved his smile, how it could light up the room. He just knew, this is where he wanted to be.

"I love you too, Hope"

And they kissed again, this time less carefully and more hungry.

The next morning Hope woke up to the sun bathing her, she tried to move but felt a strong arm around her, pulling her closer to the male figure next to her.

_Scott._

Hope blushed at the thought of last night's events. She did it. She really did it. She confessed her feelings and then… well they did other stuff together. She couldn't see her face but she was sure her expression was just pure bliss.

She started to gently draw small patterns with her finger in Scott's bare chest. He opened his eyes a few minutes later.

"Hi" he kissed her head and looked down at her "did you sleep well?"

Hope, who was still focused on Scott's chest nodded in agreement.

"It's actually the best sleep I've had in a long time" she smiled.

She lifter her head and locked her lips with his, resuming what they started last night.

_Oh well, she could get used to this._

_Little did she know, she would be getting up to this for the rest of her life._

_And maybe the ones to come._


End file.
